


Gypsy

by deliverme



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28456212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliverme/pseuds/deliverme
Summary: Aaron Hotchner loved safe. Safe was having one beer at the bar. Safe was getting home at a decent hour. Beth was safe. Safe was not the thoughts he had about Sloan. Safe was not the night they shared together and pretended to forget after.Where's the fun in safe?
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	1. One

One

Sloan could feel the concerning eyes of Spencer Reid on her as she looked out the plane window into a dark sky. They had just finished a case in which four college girls had been brutally stabbed and sexually assaulted. The unsub was a former alumnus who had lured the girls in via the promise of a generous scholarship.

There was not a single case that left Sloan feeling content, but the teenagers and college kids often hit the hardest for her. College was meant to be the place to experiment, to find passion, and to have the most fun just before entering the melancholy ‘real’ world. These girls had had their innocence stripped from them, their friends would grieve the rest of their time at college, and their parents would feel their absence for years to come. No one would be unscathed at the end of it.

Spencer knew her particular dislike for these cases. He knew as he watched her eyes glaze over while interviewing families. He knew as she put a comforting hand on the shoulder of the grieving friends.

Spencer Reid, the boy genius who knew everything, felt a pang in his heart because he didn’t know. He did not know how to comfort the girl in front of him.

“It’s a full moon tonight.” He spoke.

Sloan turned her face from the window and looked at the guy in front of her. His hair was falling into his eyes. He was trying. “Is there proof that the full moon has something to do with a person’s energy?”

Spencer tried to recall things he had read. It wasn’t hard. “There’s some weak evidence, but it can mildly affect your circadian rhythm because it brightens the sky by 0.1 to 0.3 lux.”

“I wish that the brightness of a full moon was the only thing that affected my sleep, but it seems that the things we see do a good enough job on their own.” She joked, but there was no humor in her eyes.

“We can’t save them all.” It was a sad truth, but a truth, nonetheless. Spencer knew that Sloan knew this fact, but a reminder never hurt after cases like these.

Sloan smiled sadly, “A girl can dream, can’t she, pretty boy?”

She had stolen that name from Morgan, but it did not seem to bother Spencer as it used to. Sloan’s intentions were always good.

“Only if she dreams about me.” Speak of the devil. Morgan popped into the seat next to Sloan, his headphones hanging around his neck. Spencer and Sloan rolled their eyes, but they couldn’t help but appreciate Morgan’s comedic relief. His presence was as comforting for them as it was intimidating for those that didn’t know him. “Sloan, baby, do you dream of me?” He mused.

She wrapped her arm around Derek’s and leaned into him. “Oh, Der, of course I do. I just wish you’d make my dreams come true.”

The two attempted to keep a serious face, but when Spencer started gagging, they gave in and busted into a fit of laughter. Derek and Sloan were as platonic as could be, and they bonded over the shared teasing of Spencer Reid. And as much as they loved to push the genius’ buttons, they were also the same in their habits of protecting him. If it came to it, anyone on the team would die for anyone on the team.

“Emily, help me. These two are making me ill.” Spencer called for the brunette who was on her way back from the mini fridge with empty hands.

“Reid, if you can’t beat them, you have to join them.” She winked, making Spencer gag even more. “One day, when one of us runs the bureau, my first request is going to be alcohol on the jet.”

Morgan laughed, “Well why don’t you just put in the request now? We already know Hotch is going to be the director eventually.”

Emily gasped, “You’re right.” She turned to the right where Hotch and Rossi were sitting across from one another, discussing an unknown topic. “Sir, I would like to put in a request that the Bureau be responsible for the stocking of alcohol in the mini fridges.”

“I second that.” JJ piped up from the couch, where everyone had assumed that she was sleeping.

“JJ, you’re pregnant.” Morgan reminded.

Sloan rolled her eyes. “She won’t always be pregnant, Derek. It’s just nine months.”

“Now that is a policy that I could be in favor of.” Rossi remarked with a smirk.

Hotch held his hands up, silencing the others immediately in anticipation of his response to the request. “Prentiss, let me just start with no.” A collaboration of groans echoed throughout the plane. “I will not be responsible for your alcohol tolerances, at least not on the job.”

The team banter was one of the reasons why Sloan loved her job. There were cases filled with the most gruesome of situations, but there was so much joy to find in one another. Once the team had decided JJ was fit to be a profiler, they had also found Sloan to be her replacement. She was organized to the tee and spent a few years working at the communications department in the White House.

At first, Sloan was incredibly intimidated by the ease in which the team conducted themselves. They were close-knit and were not afraid to question each other for the sake of the case. Working in DC meant that Sloan had learned to trust no one, to always assume that those you work with will step on your back to get to the top. That was not the case for the BAU.

Two years later, Sloan fell into her place on the team and she could not have imagined a better place to be.

While she was no profiler, she spent enough time with them to notice strange ticks occurring. As she looked over at her boss, she observed his repeated glances to his watch.

“Hot date, Hotch?” Sloan inquired with a playful glance.

The dark-haired man looked up from his silver watch and a small red tint flooded into his cheeks.

Sloan gasped. “Oh my gosh, that was just a joke. You actually have a hot date, sir?”

Aaron was disappointed in himself that he had so easily allowed his after-work plans to become obvious to his team. It was not that he did not trust his team enough to confide in them, but this was his first date after Haley, and it had taken him awhile to work up the confidence to move on.  
  


“I don’t have a date.” He denied, rolling his eyes as he turned the page on the report in front of him.

“You totally do, Hotch.” Morgan chimed in and then clapped his hands together. “My man.”

The group of agents continued to tease their supervisor about his date, but Sloan suddenly felt a little guilty for so openly calling Aaron out. She had just thought that the ‘hot date’ comment was a light-hearted tease. She hadn’t anticipated being right about it.

The landing of the jet signified the end of a long work week. As the rest of the team filed off the plane, Sloan felt herself linger behind with Aaron.

He was shoving files into his briefcase and making sure that no one had left anything behind when he noticed the girl waiting by the jet door. “Williams, can I help you?”

She gave a soft smile. “Listen, I’m really sorry about the whole date thing. If I had known, I would never have exposed you like that.”

“It’s not a big deal, Sloan.” His face was expressionless as she looked up at him. She hadn’t noticed how close in proximity they had gotten during her apology.

“But it is, sir. I mean you deserve a real shot, and you don’t deserve to be profiled by your team. I hope you know that behind all that teasing, you have our full support.” As if on instinct, her hand fell to his arm in a comforting manner.

Aaron’s eyes fell to her hand, before flashing quickly back to Sloan’s eyes. “I appreciate it, Sloan.”

_Sloan_. In all her time working at Quantico, that was the first time her boss had ever used her first name. Sure, he had always called JJ _JJ_ and Rossi _Dave_ , but that was different. That was habit. Aaron had to put the thought into saying her first name because Williams was the habit.

Before she could say anything else, Aaron was already walking down the steps of the plane, leaving Sloan alone with her thoughts as she followed in suit.

“What took you so long?” Emily asked as Sloan finally came into view in the parking garage. The two had carpooled together, only living within blocks of each other.

“Thought I forgot my phone on the jet.”

The two girls fell into conversations of restaurants they had always wanted to try and why traffic was always so horrid, no matter the time of day they were driving. However, for one moment while Emily was discussing a new Thai place, Sloan watched the full moon and tried to piece together a thought that plagued her since she got off the plane.

_Why wasn’t she excited for Hotch?_

Green was not her color after all.


	2. Two

**Two**

The Knights of the Round Table were not so knightly at all after a weekend of too many shots and Penelope’s insistence on attendance at the Black Cat’s Karaoke Night. Emily was on her third cup of breakroom coffee, but it didn’t seem to be helping her hangover. Spencer sat in his chair with a pair of dark black sunglasses over his eyes, wondering when the lights got so bright in Quantico. Morgan continued to sip on tea with lemon and honey in an effort to gain his voice back after Garcia made him duet with her repeatedly. Sloan was attempting not to fall asleep on Penelope’s arm, but it was so comfy, and she was so tired. Rossi was relatively unaffected by the weekend, claiming that with age comes experience. JJ looked entirely fine, having skipped the charades to stay at home with Will and the babies.

“You all continue to make me more confident in my decision to refrain from stocking alcohol on the jet.” Hotch spoke as he observed his team. “Agent Williams, please present the case.”

No response and no movement from Sloan meant that she was doing more than simply resting her eyes.

Penelope nudged her, “Up, up, my sleeping beauty.”

She slowly opened her eyes to meet Hotch’s look of discontent before rushing up to her feet. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

“The case, Williams.” Hotch reminded, taking a seat next to Rossi who could not hide his amusement at the situation.

Sloan felt her cheeks turn a dark shade of red and threw herself into the presentation, knowing there was no way to mask her embarrassment.

“Bethany Davis, 17. Kara McIntyre, 17. Holly Burton, 16.” Three battered bodies of teenage girls came onto the screen. “All high school cheerleaders at Midland West High School in Frankfort, Michigan that were beaten and asphyxiated with what officials assume to be a plastic bag. The police have a suspect in custody, but no evidence to hold him. Parker Jones, 29, the assistant football coach, was the last phone call on two of the girls’ cellphones right before their murder. He’s not talking as of right now. We have thirty-six hours to find evidence on Jones or correctly identify the unsub.”

Hotch stood up immediately, “We’re on a time crunch. Wheels up in 15.”

-

One major thing that Sloan found incredibly different from her previous job at the WH compared to this was the ability to find compassion. Sloan had to be compassionate, which was not difficult considering the broken looks on the faces of Holly Burton’s parents.

Those faces are what she remembered as she stood next to Morgan, the two of them watching Hotch and Prentiss interrogate Parker Jones.

Parker Jones was nothing short of a creep in Sloan’s opinion. His mannerisms were degrading, and his cockiness was sickening as they showed him pictures of the three girls. He continued to look Emily up and down, making Sloan’s stomach churn. She didn’t know how the profiler could handle that without smacking the unsub’s stupid smirk off his face.

_I guess that’s why I’m not a profiler_ , Sloan thought to herself.

“You didn’t find anything incriminating at his house?” She inquired of Morgan, who looked exceedingly pissed off at Jones.

He shook his head and kept his arms crossed tight over his chest. “Nothing even remotely close to what we need to pin him.”

“What a pig.”

“Hotch is going to break him eventually.” Morgan remarked.

In the interrogation room, Aaron was playing the stereotypical bad cop, a role that he was remarkably good at. The team recognized their superior as an intense, intimidating man. Sure, they trusted him completely and would even consider him a close friend. But no one, not even Rossi, would like to be on the receiving end of a pissed Hotch.

However good Hotch was at being the bad cop, Sloan knew that Emily was as effortlessly good at being the good cop. She could play the sympathetic card like no one else, and it helped that she was as beautiful as she was. People wanted to confide in her, almost as if they had forgotten why she was there in the first place. Like she was a friend.

Sloan shrugged, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Emily might.”

The two shared a glance with each other before their faces turned into big grins. “Should we bet on it?” They said those words in unison.

“If I win, you have to be Garcia for Halloween.” Sloan offered as she watched Morgan grimace at the thought. His fragile masculinity was always his demise and with Halloween being the coming weekend, there was no chance Sloan could forget.

“Hmmm. I need to think of yours.” Morgan scratched his chin before his eyes fell to the picture in Hotch’s hand. “If I win, you have to be a cheerleader for Halloween.”

Sloan groaned. “Isn’t that a little bit morbid?”

“You’re trying to put me in a dress, so I had to play it dirty.” He held out his hand, “Deal?”

Watching as Emily made headway, Sloan placed her hand in his. “Deal.”

All of five hours later, Sloan was feeling pretty stupid as Derek mocked her on the jet. He was pretending to have pom poms and celebrating his big win. “D-E-R-E-K,” He waved his hands around, “What’s that spell? Winner!”

“Shut up.” Sloan groaned, smacking his arms down.

Emily’s ears perked up at the sound of Morgan’s cheering. “What’s he going on about?”

Sloan went to open her mouth to answer, but Derek cut her off with a shit-eating grin, “Williams and I made a bet about who was going to break Jones and I went with Hotch because I’m a certified genius,”

“You’re not a certified genius,” Spencer said without looking up from his book.

Derek continued, “Regardless, I won and now Williams has to be a cheerleader for Halloween.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I am sincerely sorry.” Emily mused, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to appear on her face.

The liaison softly elbowed the smirking female agent beside her. “None of you are actually sorry.”

Sloan, in an effort to ignore Derek’s persistent chanting, turned her gaze to the reason she lost. Aaron sat in his usual seat across from Rossi and looked down intensely at the papers in front of him. She should have known better than to doubt the bad cop routine.

The bad cop routine. Sloan found herself thinking back to Aaron interrogating Jones. The way his voice raised was incredibly dominant. When he slammed his hands down on the table, Sloan couldn’t help but feel a little turned on by the action. His hands, well his hands might be the most attractive thing about him. Her gaze fell to his hands holding the thin paper files – large, veiny when they were holding something tightly, experienced. She wondered for a moment what those would feel like on her skin.

She ran her tongue along her bottom lip and suddenly found herself meeting the gaze of dark brown eyes. _Fuck_. Her cheeks turned a dark pink as she turned her attention back to the gloating agent in front of her. Why had she stared for so long? Was she really that unlucky that she had to be licking her lips as she was looking at him? Maybe he hadn’t seen her do that, maybe he looked up at the last second.

Her wishful thinking was incredibly off-base, however. Aaron had seen her licking her lips as she looked at him. Her lips were a light shade of pink, and while something as simple as that had never gone on his radar before, he seemed to be incredibly enveloped by that small action. He had also heard the results of the bet that Sloan and Morgan had with each other. And he would be lying if he had said that he wasn’t secretly proud of himself for breaking Jones.

But Aaron was not the type of guy to think like this, or pine over his subordinate in this way. That was incredibly unprofessional. Thus, he attempted to shake his mind of these thoughts, pretending like he had never imagined what Sloan would look like entangled in the sheets of his bed.

-

Sloan Williams felt incredibly small as she stood in Aaron’s office. It was a Friday night, the day before Halloween and he had asked her to come in to review her written report on the previous case.

He was not in the room and thus Sloan stood, admiring the lack of décor on the walls of the office. It was not surprising that Hotch had forewent adding personal touches to his workspace. Most of the team avoided photos that could potentially be used against them. For example, the only things on Sloan’s small desk in the bullpen was a Chicago Cubs pennant – significant to her hometown and a University of Michigan mug – her alma mater.

When she looked out the office door into the bullpen and saw no sign of Hotch, she wandered around the desk to view the sole photo in his large room. A close-up candid picture of Aaron and Jack with two grins spread across their faces. It must have been captured by Haley. There was a sad beauty to Aaron Hotchner that Sloan learned early in her career with the team. He was the best father but did not get enough time to show the world that. He excelled in his career, so much so that it was impossible for him to give it up.

“He asked about you the other day,” A voice spoke up from behind her. 

She turned to see Aaron standing there with an unreadable expression on his face. He looked incredibly exhausted.

Sloan backed away from behind his desk and returned to the spot in front of it. She offered a smile, saying, “He did?”

He moved effortlessly across the room, motioning for her to sit as he lowered himself into his own chair. “He wanted to know what you were being for Halloween. I think he was hoping for the possibility of a dynamic duo costume, but he felt being a cheerleader didn’t suit him.” There was a tint of amusement in his voice.

“Did you tell him he can blame Morgan for that?”

“Don’t worry about it. He was onto a new costume idea pretty fast. He’s ecstatic to show everyone what a great shark he can be.”

Sloan had formed a great relationship with Jack in her time at the BAU. She grew up babysitting for the kids in her neighborhood, so when Jack looked bored at a team party, Sloan swooped him up and made sure he had a great time. It was nice to have that innocent bond with a child, especially after a long workday of looking at gruesome scenes.

“Well, if J is going to be a shark, are you going to be a bloody swimmer or a dolphin or something?” She inquired. In all her years, she was sure that she had never seen Aaron in any sort of costume.

He laughed, “Unfortunately no. He wants to be his own star,” Aaron looked away from her, “I’m actually going to be a doctor and Beth is going to be a nurse.”

_Beth_. _A couple’s costume._

“Beth? Is that your date from a few weeks ago?” Sloan tried her best to seem nonchalant about the whole comment. In all truth, she had never expected her boss to be in a relationship. He was so career-oriented, and with Jack, she just never saw him really making time for anyone else.

But now, this girl, this _Beth_ , had convinced the inconvincible man to wear a Halloween costume. In front of his team.

“Yes, we’ve been seeing each other quite frequently.”

“That is really great, Hotch. I can’t wait to meet her.” Sloan said as she put on her camera smile. The picture-perfect smile that made her the face of the BAU. Aaron would be a fool not to recognize it, but neither of them said anything.

In fact, the personal conversation ended there, and they threw themselves into going over the paperwork that laid before them.

Sloan got home late that night and as she sat down on her couch with a glass of wine, she felt those childish thoughts creep in. _Stupid Beth._


	3. Three

**Three**

Saturday night came at a quick clip and Sloan stood in front of her full-length mirror in a store-bought cheerleading uniform. Normally, Halloween was her favorite holiday. She couldn’t get enough of the clever costume ideas and the ability to be anything other than yourself without anyone saying a damn thing about it. However, as she looked in the mirror, she felt like a complete dork and she made a mental reminder to kick Derek Morgan in the ass upon arrival.

A knock on the door ruined the magical thoughts of pummeling Morgan. She pulled her skirt down, despite the fact that it did not do a thing to hide her ass from being on display.

There, decked out in the most elaborate devil costume was Emily Prentiss and she looked like a daydream. She wore a deep crimson slip dress with a pair of lacey black tights underneath. Her leather Chelsea boots made her legs look even longer than usual, and the red horns coincided with the deep red shade she adorned on her lips.

_Why couldn’t I have been a lesbian_ , Sloan thought as she observed her friend.

“You look so fucking hot.” They said in unison before bursting into a fit of laughter over their jinxed sentence.

Sloan rolled her eyes, “I honestly don’t even want to walk in next to you. I already look like a dork; you’ll just dig my hole even deeper.”

Emily huffed as she watched Sloan lock up her apartment. “S, I wouldn’t even mind being bullied by you in high school. I want to worship upon your white sneakers.”

“Lord do not let the devil tempt me tonight,” The other girl joked, pretending to look up at the sky. “So, do you know who is going to be at Rossi’s?”

“Let me try to remember the list that Garcia rambled…” Emily tapped her chin, “Reid, Morgan, JJ, Will, Henry, Strauss, Hotch, his new girlfriend – which is shocking news to me, Jack, and I think a few other FBI folk. Pretty much the usual.”

Sloan nodded. She was not exactly looking forward to seeing Aaron’s new girlfriend, but in good conscience, she decided to shake her bad attitude because maybe Beth would be the nicest person in the world.

When the two girls showed up at Rossi’s, there were greeted by an Italian mobster. In all honesty, David Rossi did not look like he was in costume at all. He felt suspiciously well into the whole _“make me an offer I can’t refuse”_ vibe. Sloan would not have been surprised if he was working for the mafia and she was not about to inquire into that. Rossi opened his arms to the two. “Le mie donne preferite.”

They both proceeded to hug the eldest member of their team. There was something deeply comforting about a David Rossi hug. They followed him inside his home into the backyard – the D.C. weather had managed to bless them with a mild temperature.

As Sloan observed the yard, it seemed her and Emily were not the last to arrive as usual. Aaron was missing. Sloan shook it off and began her hellos with sweet Penelope Garcia. She was a sight to see in her Marilyn Monroe costume and enveloped Sloan immediately.

“Oh, my love, Derek did us all a favor with this costume choice.” She ran her hand through the cheerleader’s high ponytail.

Her mind immediately shot to the pressing issue at hand. “Speaking of Derek, where is that bald motherfucker?”

“Watch your mouth, princess.” And thus, he spoke from behind her with that same grin on his face he had when he won.

Sloan whipped around on a mission and she could feel her ponytail swing drastically. “The things I would do rip that stupid smile off your face- “ Before she could continue her fury, JJ came over to hush them as everyone’s eyes fell onto the new arrivals.

There, dressed in a pair of light blue scrubs was their superior with his son dressed as a shark on his shoulders. However, the team was less interested in the costumes and more interested in the mystery girl that came in with Hotch.

The team, in an effort not to make their guest feel uncomfortable, continued in their various conversations while attempting to take a sneak peek at Aaron’s new girlfriend. She had brown hair that was set into waves, kind light eyes, and a warm smile. She was entirely perfect for their boss – someone close to his age who was ready to fulfill the maternal role that had been lost since Haley’s passing.

Sloan wanted so badly to find fault in Beth, to make sense of why she was feeling this way towards Aaron. However, when they officially met, Sloan knew she had no reason to dislike Beth. She was really perfect.

“You must be Beth. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Sloan’s hand took hers in a shake.

Beth smiled brightly at her. “And you’re Sloan. I always see you on TV when there’s a big case. You’re a natural.”

“Sloan loves a camera,” Morgan mused in passing to which Sloan replied with a simple eye roll.

“Don’t listen to him. I hate seeing my own face on TV just as much as the next person.” That was true. Sloan never wanted to re-watch any newscast where a press conference of hers had been broadcasted. It honestly made her cringe, and it was hard enough to relive the memories of the team’s cases.

The Halloween bash continued on as any BAU party did. Jack and Henry ran in circles around each other while the adults let loose. Derek, Emily, Penelope, Will, Spencer, and Sloan played an intense game of bullshit on the big table on Rossi’s porch. JJ stood with Beth against the fence, watching the two boys play their hearts out. Rossi and Hotch sat at the outdoor bar, smoking cigars. It was a blissful Halloween.

“Two Jacks.” Sloan said, putting down two cards on the pile. She maintained her best poker face, but it wasn’t long before Spencer spoke up.

“Bullshit.” The guy dressed as Nikola Tesla said with a grin. He was the best at this game.

Sloan groaned. “I don’t know why we play this game when more than half of you are profilers. I mean, come on. Am I right, Will?” She elbowed the detective next to her.

Will returned a shrug and a light chuckle. “Oh, Sloan, you’re just bad at this. Ain’t got nothing to do with profiling.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side, you non-profiler.”

“I am not on anyone’s side, except for my wife’s.”

“Well, we will have to pause because of you guys. If you hadn’t all teamed up against me and made me drink, I would not have to go pee this often.” Sloan stood up from the table, made a useless attempt to yank down her skirt before heading into the house.

She stumbled slowly down the hall, observing the artwork that lined the walls of Rossi’s house. She admired the eldest member of the team’s taste. He was as classic as they come.

Suddenly, Sloan’s admiration of the artwork was cut short when someone grabbed her by the arm and swiftly pulled her into the bathroom.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she peered at the culprit in scrubs.

“Hotch? What the -”

“I see the way you look at me, Williams.” He cut her off, keeping his hands on his hips.

She shook her head fiercely, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Aaron took a step closer. Sloan swallowed hard and stepped back, but she couldn’t go back further – she was already tight against the wall. He got closer. His face leaning down next to hers, his breath by her ear.

“I tried so hard to ignore it. I’ve tried so hard to focus on Beth, to get her to look at me like you do.” His lips grazed her cheek. “You’ve consumed me, Sloan. I see the way you look at me. I see the way you stare at my hands. Don’t you want to know how they feel?”

Truth was – she did want to know they felt. She wanted to know how all of him felt. But this was beyond wrong – it was unprofessional and incredibly distasteful considering his new girlfriend was yards away. Upon this realization, Sloan found the strength to push past her boss and get to the door.

Her back was facing him, her hand grazing over the silver knob on the door. She did not look at him as she spoke. “Like I said, I do not know what you’re talking about. I’ll see you out there.”

Before she could twist the handle on the door, Sloan felt Aaron’s hands take hold of her waist, fingers grazing the skin that was uncovered by the uniform top. She sucked in a breath as his lips skimmed over the crevasses of her neck.

Her eyes fluttered closed as he kissed the back of her neck. “Beth is really nice.”

“She is.” He hummed, before sucking down on the skin.

“This is wrong.” Sloan breathed out.

“It is.”

One of Aaron’s hands fell to her exposed thigh, his fingers running up and down the skin. Sloan could feel the goosebumps begin to creep onto her skin. She cursed herself for being so weak under his touch. How could she not be? This man, the man she had secretly fantasized about on the jet was here in the flesh. Fantasy was crossing the line with reality quickly.

Sloan shook her head, turning around to face him while removing his hands from body. “We should stop.”

Aaron stepped back, giving Sloan her much needed space. As bad as she wanted it, as desperate as she was for his touch, she had more respect for herself and for Aaron. This was a fantasy that needed to stay a fantasy. Beth was so sweet – she was what Aaron needed. Someone consistent.

“I’m sorr-“ She cut him off quickly.

“Please don’t worry about it. Already forgotten, boss.” They held eye contact for a minute, both of their emotions clouded behind their irises.

Sloan opened the door, stepped out, and shut it immediately behind her. She desperately attempted to compartmentalize the situation that had just occurred in David Rossi’s powder room. She failed compartmentalizing when a soft voice spoke to her as she stepped back into the yard.

“Hey, Sloan. Did you see Aaron in there?” Beth questioned innocently, swaying the sleeping shark that was Jack in her arms. “I think this shark is done swimming for tonight.”

The cheerleader posed a small smile. “No, I didn’t. I’d guess he’s probably in the bath-“

“I’m right here. Ready to go?” Aaron chimed from behind Sloan to which Beth nodded in response.

Sloan patted Jack on the back before stepping further into the backyard. “It was nice meeting you, Beth. I hope to see you around more.”

And that was true. She did hope to see Beth around more. She hoped to see her boss happier, lighter. She hoped that all that happened in the bathroom was a lapse of judgement. That it was all a mistake. However, that is all it was. Hope.

“I’ll see you Monday, Williams.” He said as he took in Jack from Beth’s arms and slipped her the keys.

“See you, Hotch.”

And thus, the new couple walked away and left Sloan feeling guilty as ever. The guilt continued all the way on the ride home and as she laid in bed looking up at the ceiling fan, she wondered: Why did she have to look at Aaron like that? Why couldn’t she get a grip on herself?

And she didn’t have an answer.


End file.
